party like it's my burfday

because it was! last friday! so i took the day off work and gave myself a 4-day weekend. good idea.

after dinner with some of my girls thursday evening, i was looking forward to a day of freedom and an evening dinner party at my in-laws' house with both sets of parents and some of the extended family on friday. as expected, dinner was great fun.

team stone:


mom-in-law and cousin joe bob setting the table (remember, this is tennessee):

chatting with the dads:


embarrassment of riches:


after a fulfilling birthday, i was ready to snuggle up with those big dogs on the couch. except they were not barking when we got home? and the lights were off? because SURPRISE!


captain fantastic. he rallied the handful of friends who were in town over the holiday weekend and had them waiting at the house!

with cake! (the most delicious chocolate & heath bar cake of all time, mind you)


yes, i am 28. i know, you were going to say 15. i get that a lot. but guess what? for a month? cougar. c-fan's birthday is october 4th. rawr.

anyway, my parents were there, a bunch of people i love to spend time with were there, there was pink champagne and a keg and an assortment of pictures of me hung in banner form around the house. the boys in charge of posting the pictures took the liberty of hiding them throughout the house as well, so we're still finding candids in places like the washing machine, underwear drawer and dog food containers. the gift that keeps on giving!

and i am nothing if not generous, so i'll share that gift with you. here are a sampling of the shots that graced my walls (and other household surfaces). not in chronological order.

engagement & wedding shots from j.malahy:






first married dinner on the honeymoon in belize:


reef fishing in belize:

an early date (beer pong in the guyrage):


bacheloretting at raiford's in 80s glam gear:


our first meeting at the chug-n-run:


bbq fest 2k10:

new year's eve 2k9:


first grade art class (that's me rocking the nautical and cowlick in the middle):


doing up the redneck riviera with my pops:


...in unintentional matching outfits:

camping out in the bago:


wherein it is necessary to wear one's bago hat:


lounging in the trailer-trash yard (see: bago, above):


rooting for the tigers when they aaaaalmost won the big tourney:


hiking the sewanee perimeter trail:

ditto:


this is like a third of the party decorations. i am making a ridiculous face or doing something embarrassing in almost all of them. which apparently was the point.

it was the best birthday eva, and i'm so thankful for such great family and friends who made it that way! thank y'all so much! 28 is starting out to be a great year.

operation bathroom: reveal

indeed! your eyes do not deceive you! though i will not declare the bathroom "finished," i will declare it "close enough" and share it with my interweb friends. please note that the photos were not styled beyond putting the toothbrushes in the closet and properly folding the towels. no time for that shniznaws. toss in a tube of toothpaste and a wadded-up pair of c-fan's underpants, and you've got our daily bathroom. house beautiful will not be calling on me and my point-and-shoot anytime soon, but whatev.

without further ado, behold:

BEFORE (check out more befores here and here)







AFTER (plus commentary. of course.)

the new square pedestal sink allows more room for the soap dispenser and toothbrushes without taking up more visual space. the mirror comes down over the bead board trim, which is important for those who have on more than one occasion been referred to as "hobbit-like." the light fixture, which is on because it was too dark for pictures otherwise, came from the pottery barn outlet with a steep discount and is, according to captain fantastic, "exactly like the old one." except not.

wall decor is still up in the air. recently won the fabulous magnetic frame on the right from suzanne at our southern nest, one of my fave new reads. thank you suzanne! where i really want to put it is the kitchen, but there's literally about one square foot of wall space in there. love the stripes of the frame with the stripes of the bathmat and bead board, but thinking it might give the whole place too much of a coastal vibe for landlocked tennessee. not sure what to magnetize to it either, given the rainforest-like conditions at shower time, so it will likely be relocated soon. temporarily styled the above-potty shelf with a print and some candles, but planning to display some clear containers of cotton balls and other bathroom goodies like that instead. so, you know, disregard all of that.

kept the pottery barn shower curtain i've had and loved for years and got towels in the coordinating color from the pb outlet. liked the look of the pb ribbon roman shades (which are no longer on the website), but didn't like that they couldn't be raised and lowered easily, so i made my own with a bamboo roman shade from lowe's, some fabric and ribbon a la john's journal's tutorial. works great!

tip: the lid to the tank on our potty is convex, so everything i ever set back there would eventually slide right on off. i used a little of that tacky clay stuff (like for hanging posters on dorm room walls) to secure these wee pots from local store urban gardener. like magic!

the new double towel bar has saved me i cannot tell you how much anguish over SOMEONE'S propensity to leave wet towels lying on the floor. now that each spouse's towel has a place to spread out to dry, there's no excuse! victory! wouldn't this towel rack look awesome with some coordinating leontine linens hand towels with my monogram? in the rayford style? tomorrow is my birthday. fyi.


we extended the shower's subway tile all the way to the ceiling and capped the whole thing off with crown molding. do you remember what my old shower looked like? the new shower? is like heaven. heaven on earth. delight. we removed the old towel bar and tension rod shelving and installed two tile shelves in each corner. i failed to photograph this. somewhat on purpose. because you are all now aware of my tendency to hoard drugstore bath and hair products. ashamed. but look! crown molding! pretty!


shiny white floors and baseboards. which i love. but i will say, maybe not the best choice for someone with as high of cleanliness standards as i have. i say reasonable, you say type a. i say perfectionism, you say clinical ocd. let's all just agree not to wear our dirty shoes in the bathroom, k?


contractor brad topped the bead board with a lovely chair rail and ledge. we painted the walls a soft gray that compliments the bluish-gray of the shower curtain, towels and ribbon shade detail.

and there she is!


now who's coming to the potty party?

3 projects...zero bathrooms

dear internet,

once the following are accomplished, you shall have your bathroom reveal:

1) doorknobs. let's discuss how easy it is to purchase new doorknobs for ancient doors and make them fit. except not.

2) things that go on the wall. procured yet not installed.

probably start sending hate mail to captain fantastic about this, as he's the one who operates the power tools and is too busy going on 30 mile bike rides and drinking bloody marys on greer's ferry lake. i do admit to wearing my perfectionist pants where wall decor is involved. but internet, nothing less than the best for you!

but, an olive branch? i have some things to share. projects. that i HAVE completed. believe it or not. i think someone slipped adderall in my coffee this weekend. or maybe it's just that i drank coffee at all. hmm...

1) coasters

had these picture frame coasters in a large box of frames i rescued from the parents' move:


saw these thomas paul nautical coasters online:


had idea.

printed above picture. executed scribble-on-back-with-pencil-then-trace trick:


cut. inserted into coaster frames for a festive nautical touch to ye olde lake house:


decided maybe they won't make it to the lake house after all:


because one can never have too many coasters.

2) basket

mentioned to my mother that perhaps this basket of hers could use some updating:


she agreed. insisted that i not make fun of its circa-1989 sponge paint job on the blog. or post pictures of her on the blog. so here are her hands, applying stain to the freshly painted basket in my back yard this weekend:


it now looks lovely. mother-daughter bonding! decor circa 2010! good times.

3) cork board

i need one in my office to post newspaper clippings, pictures, articles, whathaveyou to show how good i am at my job. so i got a plain cheap one at michael's and gave it my own spin on the ubiquitous blogger fabric-and-nailheads treatment:




way to stage those photos, huh? now i just have to hang it behind my desk and fill it with episcoparaphernalia. my college diploma that's written entirely in latin can't wait to have company. sorry buddy, still no one will be able to read you or even tell where i went to school.

and? that's not even all i did this weekend! furthermore known as The Most Productive Weekend Ever. now that it's back-to-school time, i'll try to get back-to-blogging and sharing what's going on chez stone.

does this mean i get to shop for school supplies and a new fall wardrobe? i think yes.

dog days

firstly, the bathroom. it is nearing completion. it has been fulling functioning since last friday, hallelujah, but there are still a few touches to be completed before a reveal.

secondly, marley dog. is old. and needed a comfy-er bed than the lumpy petco monstrosity cstone bought in a pinch. so i made him one last weekend.


i cut a twin size egg crate mattress pad in thirds, stacked the thirds together with spray adhesive, then sewed a cover for it. the fabric coordinates with both the bedroom and the living room, so m-dawg has somewhere to curl up no matter where he's standing guard. lying guard, rather. and mama is happy because it's cute.


i mean handsome. and manly. (marbs makes that face at me often. like, woman. get out of my face. srsly. trying to nap.)

i washed and dried both the main and cording fabric before making the cover, and i installed a zipper on one side, so it can easily be removed for regular dates with the washing machine. very regular dates with the washing machine.

gooooood booooooy.


sterling will get one too. no worries. i've got some green and white ticking fabric for just such an occasion.

thirdly, our garden. we haz one.


c-fan constructed the raised bed out of fence posts and planted it a while back. the several varieties of tomato are thriving. and woe unto the squirrel who destroys this crop, because we are EXCITED. the squash were taking over the bed for a long time, but apparently they don't cotton to 115 degree heat indices, because they have perished. r.i.p. but i don't like squash anyway, and you know what? we had our first harvest last night!


monster okra!

we promptly collected a few and tried out the blue jean gourmet's fried okra recipe.


look! i fried! almost entirely by myself! that must warrant some southern belle merit badge or something.


and they were extremely delicious. can't wait for the next harvest.

tgif, girlfriends. tgif.